GenAI and Art: Is it really just slop?

A journey through art and slop trying to answer the ultimate question: is GenAI art slop? Between art and slop we also draw a parallel of generative art with the evolution of the software engineer career.

Talk presented at GDG Community Summit 2026 in June 2026, Berlin.

Transcript

1. GenAI and Art: is it REALLY just slop? 2026
2. Daniela Petruzalek Developer Relations Engineer, Google Cloud Google Cloud 02
3. Disclaimer: this talk is not about the process of training models TRAINING INFERENCE YOU AREN'T HERE TRAINING DATA Prompt REQUEST Training Service Model RESPONSE Google Cloud YOU ARE HERE Cat Picture 03
4. Chapter 1: Is it art or slop?
5. Google Cloud Mona Lisa (Leonardo Da Vinci) Mona Cat (Romero Britto) 5
6. Ecce Homo Google Cloud Ecce Homo "Restored" 6
7. ??? Google Cloud Girl with pierced ear (Banksy) 7
8. Girl with Balloon (Banksy) Google Cloud Love is in the bin (Banksy) 8
9. Comedian (Maurizio Catellan) Forgotten Kiwi (Literally, was in the back of my fridge) Google Cloud 9
10. Chapter 2: Is it art?
11. Is art a function of… 01 Creativity? 02 Aesthetics? 03 Effort? 04 Tools? 05 Technique? 06 Involvement? Google Cloud 011
12. Eyes of the night (Jade Gosrani) Google Cloud 12
13. Google Cloud Frieren Concert in London (Evan Call) 13
14. Akira (1988) (Katsuhiro Otomo) Google Cloud 14
15. Google Cloud 15
16. Where do you draw the line? Google Cloud 016
17. Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around works utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, technical proficiency, or beauty. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art Google Cloud 017
18. Chapter 3: Is "prompting" art?
19. Prompt 1 Prompt 2 Character: teenage girl with pink hair, shoulder length, wavvy. Blue eyes, gentle smile. School uniform, white blouse, tartan skirt. Scenario: classroom, back seat, close to the window. "Anime girl" Action: girl is sitting at her desk, book open in front of her, but she is looking at the window, holding her chin with the left hand, melancholic look, pensive. Style: anime, watercolor, 90's, pastel tones, shoujo Environment: midday light, natural light from the window, artificial light from the ceiling Camera: low angle, profile picture three-quarter view Google Cloud 019
20. Google Cloud 020
21. SLOP 𝛂 Google Cloud 1 INSPIRATION 021
22. The key to prompting is mastering the Domain Language of the vision you want to materialize Google Cloud 022
23. Google Cloud https://x.com/kantakanta1233 023
24. Epilogue: Create with AI
25. Match 3 Game Demo goo.gle/cloud-crush e y th Google Cloud Pla ga me Demo tomorrow at I/O Connect! goo.gle/cloud-crush-agy Do it y lf! se our 025
26. Match 3 Game Demo Demo tomorrow at I/O Connect! Coded with Gemini CLI / Antigravity Assets: - Images: Nano Banana Pro / 2 - Music: Lyria 3 - Sound effect: Gemini 3 Flash Google Cloud 026
27. Choose your adventure Option 1 Photo Restoration App with Genkit and Nano Banana Option 2 Build Agentic Interfaces with ADK and A2UI Option 3 Orchestrate app development with Gemini and MCP Workshop tomorrow at I/O Connect! Google Cloud 027
28. Build the future builders.google
29. Thank you 029